According to the statements made by the prosecutors, “Indeed, the defendant’s years of crime appear to have been driven by self absorption and a notion that his musical genius freed him from any obligation to conform his conduct.”

The fact that R. Kelly, who is now 55 years old and has been incarcerated since 2019, poses a “grave risk” to the general public justifies, in the opinion of the prosecutors, his continued incarceration until he is well into his 70s. Kelly was arrested in 2019 for sexually assaulting two women.

Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29 and is looking at serving a minimum of ten years behind bars.

 
45 government witnesses, including several of Kelly’s abuse victims, testified in often graphic detail about an unsavory side to Kelly’s music career, which was highlighted by the Grammy-winning hit “I Believe I Can Fly” in 1996. These witnesses testified about Kelly’s music career, which was highlighted by the song in 1996.

According to witnesses, Kelly’s victims were coerced into adhering to stringent rules, such as needing his permission to eat or go to the bathroom, calling him “Daddy,” and writing “apology letters” purporting to vindicate him of wrongdoing. Other rules allegedly enforced by Kelly included forcing his victims to call him “Daddy.”

According to the prosecution, the defendant “regularly severed the psychological and physical well-being of each and every one of his victims.” “There is not a shred of doubt in the mind of the government that the defendant, if given another opportunity to commit a crime, would do so.”